Germany MOF Releases Court Decision Explaining Tax on Wages Paid for Consulting Work in Afghanistan

The German Ministry of Finance March 10 released Tax Court Decision No. IR 43/19, explaining the taxation of wages earned as an international civilian consultant with the international security assistance force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. The taxpayer was a former German soldier who worked as a consultant with the ISAF in Afghanistan after his retirement from the military. The taxpayer assumed his consulting income was tax-free in Germany, which the tax office disputed. On appeal, the court explained that: 1) there isn’t a DTA between Germany and Afghanistan, and a tax exemption could only result from an international agreement that affected ...